Armed Forces: A400M

Lord Gilbert: To ask Her Majesty's Government when is the next break point in the contract for A400M aircraft.

Lord Astor of Hever: Partner nations are in intensive negotiations with Airbus Military about an amended contract for the A400M military transport aircraft and, as with other contracts, break points will be an important element of the amended agreement. However, as these international discussions are ongoing-we expect them to be concluded later this year-I would not wish to prejudice the outcome by providing such information at this time.

Armed Forces: A400M

Lord Gilbert: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is any clause in their contract for the A400M aircraft that restricts their freedom to sell A400M aircraft to other countries, either inside or outside the procurement consortium.

Lord Astor of Hever: I am withholding this information, as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.

Armed Forces: A400M

Lord Gilbert: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the weight unloaded of an A400M; and what was the weight they were given when they first ordered one of those aircraft.

Lord Astor of Hever: The empty (unloaded) weight of the delivered aircraft remains to be determined during the continuing aircraft development but is not a contractual requirement. The contract identifies load carrying capacity, included within the contractually binding performance guarantees. As has been widely reported, the target design weight has increased since contract signature. The impact of this weight growth is constantly assessed against the performance guarantees to ensure that no degradation in operational performance occurs. A400M is forecast to meet these performance guarantees as specified in the original contract, despite the increase in design weight, including the maximum single load of 32 tonnes.

Armed Forces: A400M

Lord Gilbert: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much higher the price of an A400M has to rise for the Government to have the right to change or cancel their current order without incurring any penalty.

Lord Astor of Hever: The seller has no right under the contract to increase its prices. We have agreed, subject to satisfactory conclusion of negotiations, to increase the unit price per aircraft in recognition of the problems facing the programme, the consequences of not doing so and value for money. As announced in the recent strategic defence and security review, the UK intends A400M to form the backbone of its future tactical air transport fleet and we have therefore confirmed that, subject to successful final negotiations on re-baselining the contract, the UK has no desire to extract itself from the A400M programme.

Armed Forces: A400M

Lord Gilbert: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the numbers of C130 and 1400Ms that will be operated by NATO member countries when the A400M is fully in service.

Lord Astor of Hever: The negotiated position for A400M across NATO nations is currently for 180 aircraft.
	With regard to the number of C130 aircraft, we estimate that approximately 560 are currently in service with other NATO nations, but, with regard to future plans, this information is not held centrally and it would be inappropriate to speculate on what may be private commercial deals between US companies and foreign governments, to which the UK is not a party.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the Tornado GR4 force require new engines and a full capability upgrade to remain in service; and what is the total cost involved.

Lord Gilbert: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much delay has to occur in the A400M programme for the Government to have the right to change or cancel their current order without incurring any penalty.

Lord Astor of Hever: The contractual conditions which allow cancellation of the whole programme or individual aircraft are complex and depend on specific conditions of the seller's performance under the contract, primarily around contractual breach.
	Under the contract, the UK does not have a unilateral right to exercise a termination condition; it has to be through consensus with all launch nations for the entire contract. As announced in the recent strategic defence and security review, the UK intends A400M to form the backbone of its future tactical air transport fleet and we have therefore confirmed that, subject to successful final negotiations on rebaselining the contract, the UK has no desire to extract itself from the A400M programme.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what would be the cost of providing new engines for Tornadoes to get them through to their planned exit from service.

Lord Astor of Hever: There are no plans to replace the Tornado GR4 engine before the aircraft's current out of service date of 2025. Therefore the cost of providing new engines has not been investigated.
	Under the capability upgrade strategy (pilot) programme approved in December 2007, 96 Tornado GR4 aircraft will receive capability upgrades between 2011 and 2014 at an estimated cost of £303 million. This number of aircraft is sufficient to maintain the operational capability of the Tornado GR4 forward available fleet until 2025. There are currently no plans for the aircraft to receive any further capability upgrades after 2014.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government how often Storm Shadow missiles have been used in Afghanistan.

Lord Astor of Hever: Storm Shadow has not yet been used in Afghanistan. We carefully select the type of weapon in every engagement to ensure the most appropriate munition is used to deliver the required effect, while minimising the risk of civilian casualties.

Arts: Funding

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the contribution that the arts as part of the creative economy make to the gross national product; and what assessment has been made of the potential impact to gross national product of spending reductions in this sector.

Baroness Rawlings: The creative industries are estimated to have accounted for 6.2 per cent of gross value added in 2007. These estimates cover arts sectors such as arts and antiques, designer fashion, video, film and photography and music and the visual and performing arts, as well as the other creative sectors: advertising, architecture, publishing, software, computer games and electronic publishing and radio and TV. The total excludes the crafts and design sectors due to a lack of consistent information.
	While we have made no formal assessment of the potential impact to these GVA estimates of spending reductions, we are confident that in limiting the cuts to our cultural core to just 15 per cent, the creative industries will still benefit from public investment and continue to play their part in economic growth.

Asylum Seekers

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Jones on 21 October (WA 202), what are the annual figures for applicants granted asylum or turned down for asylum in each year since 2000 in each category mentioned; and how many non-principal applicants or dependencies were granted asylum in those years.

Baroness Neville-Jones: Regarding the annual figures for applicants granted asylum or turned down for asylum in each year since 2000, I refer the noble Lord to the Answer given on 22 October 2010 in col. WA 205.
	The numbers of dependants granted asylum in each year since 2000 are provided in the attached table and have been derived from Table 2.2 of the Control of Immigration Statistics: United Kingdom, 2009 referred to in the above Answer.
	
		
			 Applications (1) received for asylum in the UK, initial decisions and percentages, dependants only, 2000 to 2009 
			   Dependants 
			  2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 (P) 
			 Dependants (2)   
			 Applications received (3) 18,555 20,525 18,950 10,640 6,665 5,130 4,715 4,870 5,380 6,185 
			 Initial decisions   
			 Total 23,720 34,955 19,910 15,430 9,370 5,815 4,545 4,890 4,400 6,670 
			 Granted asylum 1,765 3,310 2,720 1,515 595 530 465 950 1,055 1,400 
			 Granted exceptional leave to remain, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave (4) 1,150 5,835 2,330 590 200 155 105 120 140 245 
			 Refused asylum, ELR, HP and DL 16,650 25,810 14,860 13,320 8,575 5,130 3,975 3,820 3,200 5,025 
			 Granted exceptional leave under backlog criteria (5)(6) 3,720 : : : : : : : : : 
			 Refused on non-compliance grounds under backlog criteria (5)(7) 440 : : : : : : : : : 
			 Percentages of initial decisions considered under normal procedures (8)   
			 Total (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) 
			 Granted asylum (7) (9) (14) (10) (6) (9) (10) (19) (24) (21) 
			 Granted exceptional leave to remain, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave (4) (5) (17) (12) (4) (2) (3) (2) (2) (3) (4) 
			 Refused asylum, ELR, HP and DL (70) (74) (75) (86) (92) (88) (87) (78) (73) (75) 
			 Granted exceptional leave under backlog criteria (5)(6) (16) : : : : : : : : : 
			 Refused on non-compliance grounds under backlog criteria (5)(7) (2) : : : : : : : : : 
		
	
	(1) Figures (other than percentages) rounded to the nearest 5 ( - = 0, * = 1 or 2) and may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding.
	(2) The figures for 2000 and 2001 figures are estimated. They include dependants who applied with the principal applicant and those who arrived subsequently but before the principal application was decided.
	(3) May exclude some cases lodged at Local Enforcement Offices before March 2000.
	(4) Humanitarian Protection (HP) and Discretionary Leave (DL) replaced Exceptional leave to Remain from 1 April 2003.
	(5) Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre 1996 asylum application backlog.
	(6) Includes cases where asylum or exceptional leave has been granted under the backlog criteria.
	(7) Includes some cases where the application was refused on substantive grounds.
	(8) Percentages for cases considered under normal procedures and those within the backlog clearance exercise are calculated separately.
	(P) Provisional figures.
	: Not applicable.

Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the rules relating to the handling of client monies by fund managers and bank custodians; and whether they will require clear segregation.

Lord Sassoon: Under the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) client money rules (set out in the Client Assets Sourcebook), where firms are holding client money they are required to keep it in segregated accounts with trust status. The Government note that the FSA has set up a new client asset sector unit, which is aimed at enhancing and strengthening the FSA's existing capabilities in the area of client money and assets. The sector consists of teams responsible for specialist supervision, policy, data analysis and risk management.

Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits to bank profitability of quantitative easing.

Lord Sassoon: The overall aim of quantitative easing (QE) was to avoid the substantial risk that inflation would undershoot the target of 2 per cent in the medium term. The Bank of England has published several assessments on the channels through which QE is expected to work (for example Quantitative Easing Explained) and on evidence of its impact (see the May 2010 Inflation Report).

Banking

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government what adjustments HM Treasury made to the gross contribution to calculate the net tax estimated to have been received under the bank payroll tax.

Lord Sassoon: HM Revenue and Customs collected £3.45 billion of gross receipts from the bank payroll tax. It is estimated that the net yield was £2.3 billion. In line with the general methodology set out in the June 2010 Budget policy costings document, the net yield takes account of all direct behavioural effects of a measure on the tax base itself (in this case the tax base for the bank payroll tax) or closely associated receipts (in this case receipts from income tax and national insurance contributions).

Banking

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the impact of the enterprise finance guarantee scheme on small and medium-size businesses.

Baroness Wilcox: As of 27 October 2010, over 12,400 businesses have been offered enterprise finance guarantee (EFG) backed loans with a value of £1.27 billion, of which over 10,700 businesses have drawn down EFG backed loans totalling £1.07 billion. By providing lenders with a government guarantee we are facilitating lending that would otherwise not be available.
	My department commissioned an early stage assessment of the impact of EFG on recipient firms published in December 2009. This research provides an assessment of the impact of EFG, associated with recipient businesses being able to access loans that otherwise would have not been available. The impact is assessed on a number of business outcomes, including jobs created and saved, impacts on sales and wider benefits such as on cash-flow, survival prospects and the introduction of new products and processes. The study also seeks to understand the experiences and the benefits for businesses receiving EFG loans, including the process of borrowing through EFG and the level of satisfaction of recipients.
	Approximately 60 per cent of firms reported the creation of jobs, either already or anticipated in the future, and 57 per cent of respondents reported that they had saved jobs, all attributed to EFG. In the 385 respondent businesses, some 1,870 jobs have been saved, 350 jobs have already been created and a further 550 new jobs are expected in the future, due to receiving EFG.
	The full report of findings is published on the BIS website at http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/enterprise/au/research-evaluation/globally-competiti ve/page38372.html.

Benefits

Lord German: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many employment and support allowance claims have been resolved by withdrawal of the claims, for the period from the introduction of the work capability assessment until the end of September 2010, broken down by month of resolution.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many employment and support allowance claims have been resolved by an unappealed decision of "fit to work", for the period from the introduction of the work capability assessment until the end of September 2010, broken down by month of resolution.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many employment and support allowance claims have been resolved by (a) an upheld appeal of a "fit to work" decision, and (b) an unsuccessful appeal of a "fit to work" decision, for the period from the introduction of the work capability assessment until the end of September 2010, in each case broken down by month of resolution.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government in how many employment and support allowance claims there is an appeal ongoing following a "fit to work" decision, for the period from the introduction of the work capability assessment until the end of September 2010, broken down by month of resolution.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many employment and support allowance claims have been resolved by (a) a decision to place the claimant in the work related activity group, and (b) a decision to place the claimant in the support group for the period from the introduction of the work capability assessment until the end of September 2010, broken down by month of resolution.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many employment and support allowance claims are currently unresolved for the period from the introduction of the work capability assessment until the end of September 2010, broken down by month of resolution.

Lord Freud: The table below shows the number of employment and support allowance claims closed before assessment was started or completed by the month of claim closure. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	
		
			 Month ESA claim closed Claim closed before completing assessment 
			 Oct-08 0 
			 Nov-08 400 
			 Dec-08 2,000 
			 Jan-09 6,500 
			 Feb-09 8,400 
			 Mar-09 11,700 
			 Apr-09 11,700 
			 May-09 15,100 
			 Jun-09 16,500 
			 Jul-09 17,100 
			 Aug-09 15,800 
			 Sep-09 17,800 
			 Oct-09 19,500 
			 Nov-09 21,700 
			 Dec-09 16,500 
			 Jan-10 17,000 
			 Feb-10 19,700 
			 Mar-10 22,900 
			 Apr-10 19,100 
			 May-10 18,400 
			 Jun-10 18,100 
			 Total 295,900 
		
	
	We do not hold information on whether an appeal regarding an employment and support allowance claim has been raised until the appeal has been heard by the Ministry of Justice. There are also a number of unresolved appeals which mean figures will refresh as more appeals are heard. Because the data are not available in the format requested, figures are presented on the number of fit for work decisions by the date of assessment, along with decisions which place people in the work related activity group (WRAG) and the support group, and separately, the number of appeals by month of hearing split between either decisions in favour of the appellant or where the DWP decision was upheld.
	The table below shows the number of fit for Work, WRAG and support group decisions by the month the final decision was made-figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	
		
			 Month of Assessment Support Group Work Related Activity Group Fit for Work 
			 Oct-08 0 0 0 
			 Nov-08 100 0 0 
			 Dec-08 300 100 600 
			 Jan-09 800 500 2,000 
			 Feb-09 1,400 1,200 4,100 
			 Mar-09 2,000 3,000 9,900 
			 Apr-09 2,000 3,500 10,800 
			 May-09 2,300 4,800 14,200 
			 Jun-09 3,000 8,000 22,000 
			 Jul-09 3,300 8,600 23,100 
			 Aug-09 3,100 8,700 21,200 
			 Sep-09 3,100 8,400 21,100 
			 Oct-09 3,600 8,600 23,000 
			 Nov-09 3,800 9,300 24,000 
			 Dec-09 3,300 8,100 19,000 
			 Jan-10 3,300 8,600 22,500 
			 Feb-10 3,600 9,300 23,700 
			 Mar-10 4,100 10,400 26,400 
			 Apr-10 3,300 9,100 22,000 
			 May-10 3,400 9,700 23,700 
			 Jun-10 4,000 10,500 27,400 
			 Total 53,600 130,500 340,700 
		
	
	The table below shows the number of appeals heard to date by month of hearing. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	
		
			 Month of MOJ hearing Appealed Fit for work-appellant successful Appealed Fit for Work-DWP Decision Upheld 
			 Oct-08   
			 Nov-08   
			 Dec-08   
			 Jan-09   
			 Feb-09   
			 Mar-09 0 0 
			 Apr-09 0 100 
			 May-09 100 200 
			 Jun-09 200 500 
			 Jul-09 500 1,000 
			 Aug-09 700 1,500 
			 Sep-09 1,100 2,200 
			 Oct-09 1,500 2,900 
			 Nov-09 2,300 3,700 
			 Dec-09 2,100 3,100 
			 Jan-10 2,700 4,000 
			 Feb-10 2,900 4,400 
			 Mar-10 3,400 5,300 
			 Apr-10 3,000 4,400 
			 May-10 3,100 4,700 
			 Jun-10 3,300 5,100 
			 Total 26,800 42,900 
		
	
	Claims showing as 'in progress' (ie not assessed and not closed) are presented by month of claim start in the table below.
	
		
			 Month of claim start In Progress 
			 Oct-08 100 
			 Nov-08 400 
			 Dec-08 400 
			 Jan-09 600 
			 Feb-09 700 
			 Mar-09 800 
			 Apr-09 800 
			 May-09 900 
			 Jun-09 1,100 
			 Jul-09 1,200 
			 Aug-09 1,200 
			 Sep-09 1,500 
			 Oct-09 1,900 
			 Nov-09 2,400 
			 Dec-09 2,400 
			 Jan-10 3,900 
			 Feb-10 5,200 
			 Mar-10 8,000 
			 Apr-10 10,200 
			 May-10 14,600 
			 Jun-10 26,200 
			 Total 84,400 
		
	
	The tables in this response are extracted from an internal database which combines data from three main sources:
	benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP);functional assessment data sourced from Atos Healthcare; andappeals data sourced from Tribunals Service covering appeals heard up to August 2010 (and which link to ESA claims up to the end of August 2009).
	Note that data from Tribunals Service does not record the reason for the appeal and we must infer this from the original decision on the case made by Jobcentre Plus. This is typically a fit for work decision

British Embassies: Military Attaches

Lord Boateng: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many defence attachés are deployed in (a) Africa, (b) the United States, (c) Europe, (d) Asia, and (e) Australasia; what are their ranks; in which locations are they based; and how many were deployed in each area in (1) 1979, (2) 1987, (3) 1997, and (4) 2005.

Lord Astor of Hever: The following table shows how many defence attaches/advisers are deployed in Africa, the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia, together with their ranks and locations. It also shows how many were deployed in 1997 and 2005.
	Information prior to 1997 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Table of Number, Locations and Ranks of Defence Attaches/Advisors 1997-2010
	Key to Ranks:
	OF7 Rear Admiral/Major General/Air Vice Marshal
	OF6 Commodore/Brigadier/Air Commodore
	OF5 Captain/Colonel/Group Captain
	OF4 Commander/Lieutenant Colonel/Wing Commander
	OF3 Lieutenant Commander/Major/Squadron Leader
	
		
			 Region Country Total 1997 Total 2005 Total 2010 Defence Att/Adv Rank 2010 
			 Australasia Australia-Canberra 3 2 2 1 X OF6, 1 x OF5 
			 Australasia New Zealand-Wellington 1 1 1 I x OF5 
			 Asia Afghanistan-Kabul 0 0 1 1 x OF5 
			 Asia Bahrain-Manama 0 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Asia Bangladesh-Dhaka 0 0 1 1 X OF4 
			 Asia Brunei-Bandar Seri Begawan 0 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Asia China-Beijing 2 2 3 1 X OF6, 1 X OF5, 1 X OF3 
			 Asia India-New Delhi 2 2 3 1 X OF6, 1 X OF5, 1 X OF4 
			 Asia Indonesia-Jakarta 1 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Asia Iraq-Baghdad 0 1 2 1 X OF6, 1 X OF5 
			 Asia Israel-Tel Aviv 2 2 2 1 X OF5, 1 X OF4 
			 Asia Japan-Tokyo 2 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Asia Jordan-Amman 2 2 2 1 X OF5, 1 X OF4 
			 Asia Korea-Seoul 2 2 1 1 X OF6 
			 Asia Kuwait-Kuwait City 1 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Asia Lebanon-Beirut 1 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Asia Malaysia-Kuala Lumpur 2 2 I 1 X OF5 
			 Asia Nepal-Kathmandu 1 2 1 1 X OF5 
			 Asia Oman-Muscat 2 2 2 1 X OF6, 1 X OF4 
			 Asia Pakistan-Islamabad 2 2 3 1 X OF6, 1 X OF5, 1 X OF4 
			 Asia Philippines 1 1 0  
			 Asia Qatar-Doha 1 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Asia Saudi Arabia-Riyadh 3 2 2 1 X OF6, 1 X OF4 
			 Asia Singapore-Singapore City 2 1 2 1 X OF5, 1 OF4 
			 Asia Sri Lanka 1 1 0  
			 Asia Syria-Damascus 1 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Asia Thailand 1 1 0  
			 Asia Turkey-Ankara 2 2 2 1 X OF5, 1 X OF4 
			 Asia United Arab Emirates-Abu Dhabi 2 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Asia Yemen-Sana'a 0 0 1 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Albania 0 1 0  
			 Europe Austria-Vienna (Regional Hub) 1 1 3 2 X OF4, 1 X OF3 
			 Europe Austria-Vienna (UK Delegation to OSCE) 0 0 1 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Belgium 1 0 0  
			 Europe Bosnia & Herzegovina-Sarajevo 0 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Europe Bulgaria 1 2 0  
			 Europe Croatia 1 1 0  
			 Europe Cyprus-Nicosia 1 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Czech Republic-Prague 1 2 1 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Denmark-Copenhagen 1 1 1 I X OF4 
			 Europe Estonia-Tallinn 0 0 1 1 X OF4 
			 Europe Finland 1 1 0  
			 Europe France-Paris 4 3 2 1 X OF6, 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Georgia-Tbilisi 0 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Europe Germany-Berlin 4 4 2 1 X OF6, 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Greece-Athens 2 2 1 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Hungary 1 1 0  
			 Europe Italy-Rome 3 2 2 1 X OF6, 1 X OF4 
			 Europe Ireland 1 1 0  
			 Europe Kazakhstan-Astana 0 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Europe Latvia 1 1 0  
			 Europe Lithuania 0 1 0  
			 Europe Macedonia 0 1 0  
			 Europe Netherlands-The Hague 2 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Norway-Oslo 2 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Europe Poland-Warsaw 2 2 1 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Portugal 1 1 0  
			 Europe Romania-Bucharest 1 2 1 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Russia-Moscow 6 6 4 I X OF6, 1 X OF5, 2 X OF3 
			 Europe Serbia-Belgrade 1 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Slovakia 1 2 0  
			 Europe Spain-Madrid 2 2 1 1 X OF5 
			 Europe Sweden-Stockholm 2 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Europe Switzerland 1 0 0  
			 Europe Ukraine-Kiev 1 2 2 1 X OF5, 1 X OF3 
			 Europe Uzbekistan 0 1 0  
			 North America Canada-Ottawa 2 2 2 1 X OF6, 1 X OF4 
			 North America United States of America-Washington 7 8 8 I X OF7, 3 X OF6, 3 X OF5, 1 X OF4 
			 North America United States of America-UK Mission to UN New York 1 2 2 1 X OF5, 1 X OF4 
			 Africa Angola 0 1 0  
			 Africa Algeria-Algiers 0 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Africa Congo, Democratic Republic of (DRC)-Kinshasa 0 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Africa Egypt-Cairo 2 2 2 1 X OF5, 1 X OF3 
			 Africa Ethiopia-Addis Ababa 0 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Africa Ghana-Accra 1 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Africa Kenya-Nairobi 1 1 2 1 X OF6, 1 X OF4 
			 Africa Morocco 1 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Africa Nigeria-Abuja 0 1 1 1 X OF5 
			 Africa Sierra Leone-Freetown 0 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Africa Somalia (Shadow Section based in Nairobi) 0 0 1 1 X OF4 
			 Africa South Africa-Pretoria 2 2 2 1 X OF5, 1 X OF4 
			 Africa Sudan-Khartoum 0 0 1 1 X OF4 
			 Africa Uganda-Kampala 1 1 1 1 X OF4 
			 Africa Zimbabwe-Harare 1 1 1 1 X OF5

Broadcasting: S4C

Lord Roberts of Conwy: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt, on 25 October (HC Deb, col 9), whether they will publish the full agreement they have reached with the BBC regarding the future funding of S4C.

Baroness Rawlings: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, the Olympics, Media and Sport's letter of 21 October 2010 to the Chairman of the BBC Trust about the next Television Licence Fee settlement set out the full agreement they have reached with the BBC regarding the future funding of S4C. The letter has been published on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport website and can be found using the link http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/Lyons_BBC.pdf.

Disabled People: Employment

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist disabled people to find jobs.

Lord Freud: The Government are committed to ensuring disabled people get and keep jobs.
	The Access to Work programme can help where the assistance needed is above and beyond what the employer could reasonably provide. Access to Work provides practical advice and support to disabled people and their employers to help them overcome work-related obstacles resulting from the employee's disability
	The Government introduced a new programme of employment support for disabled people on 25 October 2010. Work Choice will provide intensive and individual support for disabled people with more complex support needs.
	The spending review confirmed the Government's continued funding to Remploy and the introduction of the Work programme. The Work programme will provide more personalised back-to-work support for long-term unemployed people, including disabled people.
	The Department for Work and Pensions is also working with other departments across government to improve both employment aspirations and outcomes for disabled people. Examples of collaborative working include support for the Right to Control, the Department for Education's Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Green Paper, and with the Child Poverty Unit by encouraging a better appreciation that employment should be the expectation for more disabled people.

Disabled People: Poverty

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government what impact they forecast the proposed universal credit will have on the number of disabled people who live below the poverty line.

Lord Freud: An assessment of the impact of the universal credit on disabled people will be published when we present our welfare reform White Paper in the next few weeks. This will include the impact on disabled people.

Disabled People: Poverty

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will set a target to reduce the number of disabled people living below the poverty line.

Lord Freud: Greater transparency across government is at the heart of the coalition Government's commitment to enable the public to hold politicians and public bodies to account, to reduce the deficit and deliver better value for money in public spending.
	Reducing the rate of disability poverty is one of the Department for Work and Pensions' key objectives and will enable the public to assess how the department is performing. Performance transparency will be used to help move from bureaucratic accountability to democratic accountability: replacing top-down targets and central micromanagement with information and choice.
	Both children living in families with a disabled adult and children living in families with a disabled child are included among the groups disproportionately likely to be in poverty and affected by socioeconomic disadvantage. The coalition Government are committed to tackling poverty and have signed up to the Child Poverty Act which puts in legislation a commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020.

Disabled People: Poverty

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for disabled people living below the poverty line; and what measures they will take to tackle those underlying causes.

Lord Freud: The links between disability and poverty are many and complex. Analysis suggests that it is not just the presence of disability which makes, for example, families with a disabled child more likely to experience poverty. It is related to other factors such as being in workless households or lone parent families. There is also some evidence1 to show that disability is associated with changes in employment and family formation over time.
	The Government have made it clear that employment and personal responsibility are fundamentally important in tackling poverty. The aim of the new Work programme and increased conditions attached to payment of benefit is to support individuals and maximise employment. The Work programme will provide more personalised back to work support for long-term unemployed people and for those with more significant barriers to employment.
	The Government have also announced their clear commitment to disabled people by introducing a new programme called Work Choice, from 25 October 2010. It will sit alongside the Work programme and will help into work disabled people who face the most complex barriers to finding and staying in employment
	Work Choice is designed to help customers whose disability may result in them facing serious and often complex barriers to finding and keeping a paid job or progressing while in work. The programme provides specialist support where mainstream provision may not be appropriate or does not meet the particular needs of the individual.
	The Government believe that the benefit system is too complicated and can encourage dependency rather than helping people into work. The financial gains from entering work are, at present, not clear enough and the complexity of the system means that some people think that moving into work may risk the security of their household income.
	Universal credit will improve incentives to work (especially for low earners such as disabled people) by a combination of earnings disregards and a single withdrawal rate to reduce the credit when earnings exceed the disregard. This will make the benefits of work clearer and simpler: encouraging people to move into work and see the financial benefits of increasing the number of hours they work.
	1 Exploring disability, family formation and break-up: reviewing the evidence, Clarke and McKay 2008

Disabled People: Poverty

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply of Lord Sassoon on 20 October (Official Report, col. 858), whether they expect to (a) reduce the number of disabled people living below the poverty line, or (b) prevent the number from increasing, by exempting (1) people with care needs from the extension of the single-room rate for housing benefit, and (2) families where one person claims a disability living allowance from the cap on household welfare payments.

Lord Freud: The extension of the single-room rate for housing benefit and the cap on household welfare payments are expected to affect relatively few people and therefore have a small1 impact on the numbers of disabled people living below the poverty line.
	The impact of these policies on disabled people will be mitigated by the following measures:
	Currently those in receipt of the severe disability premium within housing benefit are exempt from the shared room rate and single room rent, that is customers who receive at least the middle rate care component of disability living allowance and where no one gets a carer's allowance for them. This exemption will continue to apply to those in receipt of middle and higher rate care components of DLA, as appropriate, once the age threshold is raised to 35 in April 2012.
	In recognition of their additional needs, all households with a disability living allowance claimant will be exempted from the cap on household welfare payments.
	1 Estimates from the Family Resources Survey are rounded to the nearest 100,000 and the unrounded number of households expected to be affected is less than 50,000. The preferred measure of low income (the poverty line) is defined as being in a household with a household income of less than 60 per cent of contemporary median income. The median income is the income of the middle person in the population. such that half the population have incomes below the median and half the population have incomes above the median. The median is used instead of the mean income because the mean is affected by outlying cases with very high income values.

Dunfermline Building Society

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they paid Nationwide to cover the liabilities of the Dunfermline Building Society not covered by the assets that Nationwide otherwise acquired; and what claims for the transfer of costs they have made or will make against the Financial Services Compensation Scheme under section 214B of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

Lord Sassoon: Details of the financial support provided by the Treasury to support the transfer of certain assets and liabilities of Dunfermline Building Society (DBS) to Nationwide Building Society (NBS) are set out in the Treasury's Resource Accounts for 2008-09 (HC 611) and for 2009-10 (HC 261).
	The Treasury provided just under £1.6 billion to NBS. The Treasury has a claim in the DBS administration for this amount. To the extent that a proportion of this amount is not recovered in the administration, the Treasury may seek to recover that amount from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which may be required by the Treasury to contribute to the costs of the resolution of DBS. The amount that the FSCS can be required to contribute towards the DBS resolution is currently being calculated by Ian Burns of Smith & Williamson, who was appointed as independent valuer for DBS in December 2009. Details will be published in future Treasury Resource Accounts.

Education: Special Educational Needs

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide support for pupils with special needs.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Providing children with special educational needs with the best possible outcomes is a key priority for the Government. We recognise that all too often families feel that they have had to battle to get their children's needs recognised and met. We will publish a Green Paper later this year to look at how we can make the system less adversarial, more transparent and more focused on outcomes. To inform this important work, we have met parents, teachers, local authorities, charities and other groups. Our recent call for views elicited more than 1,600 responses and these will help to inform the development of the Green Paper. We will also consider the findings of recent reviews, including that from Ofsted.

Elections

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord McNally on 20 July (WA 192), what reasons they have for continuing to permit Commonwealth citizens given leave to enter the United Kingdom on a student visa to become immediately eligible to vote in parliamentary elections on taking up residence in a particular constituency; and how many such registrations are made annually.

Lord McNally: As explained in the Written Answer given by my noble friend, Lord Shutt of Greetland (WA 436) on 27 September, the Representation of the People Act 1918 provided that only British subjects could register as electors. The term "British subject" then included any person who owed allegiance to the Crown, regardless of the Crown territory in which he or she was born. In general terms this included citizens who became Commonwealth citizens under the British Nationality Act 1981. The then Government gave an undertaking to preserve certain existing rights of Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK, including the right to vote.
	However, it was considered appropriate to restrict this right in electoral law to "qualifying" Commonwealth citizens. Under Section 4 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen is an individual who has leave to enter or remain in the UK or does not require such leave. A Commonwealth citizen given leave to enter on a student visa is a qualifying Commonwealth citizen for the purposes of electoral registration. Information in respect of the numbers of Commonwealth citizens registered to vote in UK elections is not collected centrally.
	The Government have no current plans to amend the franchise for parliamentary elections, but this matter is kept under review.

Elections: Postal Voting

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government , further to the written answer by Lord McNally on 21 October (HL2419), what action they will take to ensure that 100 per cent of personal identifiers for postal voters will be verified in the elections on 5 May 2011 for local authorities in England and for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh assembly, and for the proposed referendum on the voting system.

Lord McNally: Legislation requires Returning Officers to undertake a minimum of 20 per cent verification of personal identifiers of postal votes returned. Funding was made available at the general election last May for the verification of 100 per cent of personal identifiers. The Government consider the funding for each election on a case by case basis and will make further announcements on funding for the referendum on the voting system and these elections in due course.
	Under section 36 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, local authorities in England are responsible for paying expenditure incurred by the Returning Officer in administering local elections held in their area and for fixing any scale of payments for these elections. This money is paid from the revenue support grant which is administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Local authorities are therefore responsible for the level of funding of their own elections, including the level of funding for the verification of personal identifiers of postal votes returned. Funds for Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly elections are provided by the UK Government out of the block grant. For Scottish Parliament elections, decisions on the level of funding allocated to Returning Officers for the completion of functions, such as the verification of postal votes, are made by the Secretary of State for Scotland. In Wales, these decisions are made by Welsh Ministers and approved by members of the devolved legislature.

Energy: Oil and Gas

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage North Sea oil and gas exploration.

Lord Marland: Maximising UK oil and gas production and encouraging exploration are key government objectives. We recently offered 144 new offshore licences, via our 26th Round, and hope to launch a new Round in 2011. We will also continue to ensure existing work programmes are fulfilled within licence terms.
	Initiatives to stimulate activity within existing licensed acreage (fallow and stewardship processes) will continue as will generation and presentation to industry of prospectivity ideas ahead of future Rounds.
	Government also seek to ensure the UK Continental Shelf fiscal regime encourages continuing investment and exploitation of remaining hydrocarbon resources. Expenditure incurred on exploration activity is already generally deductible for corporation tax purposes.
	Government have acted to improve the impact of the field allowance (which encourages development of small or technically challenging new fields). This will indirectly encourage new exploration activity. Furthermore the remote deep water gas field allowance has facilitated the development of gas fields West of Shetland, and resulting infrastructure is likely to stimulate further exploration in that region.
	In addition, Government are legislating in Finance Bill 2011 for a measure announced in the June Budget that will facilitate UKCS asset trades and reinvestment of sale proceeds in UK exploration activity, by extending ring fence reinvestment relief to apply where sale proceeds are spent on exploration and development. This measure can also be expected to encourage higher levels of exploration.

Energy: Tariffs

Lord Redesdale: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many energy tariffs were available on the market for consumers in each of the past three months.

Lord Marland: DECC does not hold the information requested. To meet its principal duty, to protect the interests of consumers, Ofgem collects relevant information but I understand it does not have the specific data requested. However, Ofgem are able to provide details of the number of tariffs available to a new domestic gas, electricity and dual-fuel customers based on a snapshot of 1 November 20101 . The table excludes: social tariffs; any tariffs that were closed to a new customer as at 1 November 2010; and tariffs offered by suppliers other than the main six energy suppliers. The majority of tariffs are available in each region. In some cases, tariffs may have the same price and payment method-but there could be differences in service options such as loyalty scheme points, vouchers or donations to different charities turning a single price and payment plan into multiple options.
	
		
			 Table 1 Total number of tariffs available to a new customer in the average region, across main six energy suppliers 
			  Electricity Gas Dual Fuel 
			 Direct Debit 109 20 129 
			 Standard Credit 69 15 73 
			 Prepayment Meter 17 7 16 
		
	
	1 The tariff data was provided by Energy Services Online Limited [TheEnergyShop.com]

EU: Budget

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the European Parliament's vote in favour of a 6 per cent rise in next year's European Union budget.

Lord Sassoon: The Government have been absolutely clear that we cannot accept the 6 per cent budget increase from 2010 levels, proposed by the Commission at the start of these negotiations. We also therefore oppose the European Parliament's suggested budget increase, which, while still representing a 6 per cent increase overall, is higher still than the Commission's proposal. This is completely out of step with the very tough fiscal consolidation measures being taken not just in the UK but also by Governments across the EU. On 29 October, the Prime Minister and 12 other EU leaders* signed a joint letter saying that the European Parliament's proposals,
	"are especially unacceptable at a time when we are having to take difficult decisions at national level to control public expenditure. The council has proposed an increase in EU budget spending of 2.91 per cent for 2011. We are clear that we cannot accept any more than this".
	*Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark, Austria, Finland, Slovenia, Estonia and Malta.

EU: Budget

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will oppose the decision of the European Parliament to increase the European Union budget for 2011 by 5.9 per cent and instead propose that the budget should be reduced in line with budget cuts being made by member states.

Lord Sassoon: The Government have been absolutely clear that we cannot accept the 5.9 per cent budget increase from 2010 levels, proposed by the European Commission at the start of these negotiations. We instead called for a freeze in the budget at 2010 levels. We also therefore oppose the European Parliament's suggested budget increase, which-while still representing a 6 per cent increase overall-is higher still than the European Commission's proposal. This is completely out of step with the very tough fiscal consolidation measures being taken not just in the UK, but also by governments across the European Union.
	On 29 October, the Prime Minister and 12 other EU leaders signed a joint letter saying that the European Parliament's proposals "are especially unacceptable at a time when we are having to take difficult decisions at national level to control public expenditure. The Council has proposed an increase in EU budget spending of 2.91 per cent for 2011. We are clear that we cannot accept any more than this".

EU: Budget

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the decision by the European Parliament to increase the 2011 European Union budget by 5.9 per cent will require the specific agreement of Parliament.

Lord Sassoon: On 20 October the European Parliament adopted its position in relation to the draft European Union budget for 2011 proposed by the European Commission. It proposed a 5.9 per cent increase in the budget from 2010 levels.
	On 29 October, the Prime Minister and 12 other EU leaders signed a joint letter saying that the European Parliament's proposals "are especially unacceptable at a time when we are having to take difficult decisions at national level to control public expenditure. The Council has proposed an increase in EU budget spending of 2.91 per cent for 2011. We are clear that we cannot accept any more than this". The European Parliament and the Council are now meeting in a conciliation committee to try to reach agreement on a final budget for 2011.
	The European Commission's draft budget and the Government's approach to annual budget negotiations are subject to parliamentary scrutiny. This is an important process, enhancing transparency, accountability and the Government's formulation of policy towards these negotiations. The final EU annual budget agreed at the end of the process does not require specific parliamentary agreement.

EU: Trade Agreements

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposed European Union free trade agreement with India on immigration numbers.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The proposed EU-India free trade agreement is still under negotiation. The Government's commitment to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands is fully compatible with our desire to strengthen international trade including through the European Union free trade agreement with India.

European Investigation Order

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the decision to opt in to the European Investigation Order to which future amendments will be made by qualified majority voting rather than unanimity transfers any power from the United Kingdom to the European Union.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The UK's decision to opt in to the draft directive for a European Investigation Order (EIO) and thereby participate in negotiations which will be subject to qualified majority voting (QMV) does not constitute a transfer of power from the United Kingdom to the European Union. The treaty on the functioning of the European Union provides an appropriate legal base under Title V for the Union to legislate in this area. This is subject to protocol 21 to the treaty providing for the UK to decide to opt in to the proposal. In taking the decision to opt in to this measure a number of factors, including the benefits of participating in the more effective arrangements which the measure proposes and the prospect of achieving the right outcomes for the UK through negotiations, were considered.
	Any new measure proposing amendments to the EIO after the current directive has been adopted would be subject to the UK's JHA opt-in and the UK could therefore choose whether or not it wished to participate in any future amended version. The UK will consider these decisions on a case by case basis.

G20

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what position regarding the exchange rate system and the setting of targets for current account deficits they propose to take at the G20 Summit in Seoul on 11 November.

Lord Sassoon: The UK has been actively engaged in discussions in the G20. The meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and central bank governors on 23 October announced that we are all committed to play our part in achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth in a collaborative and co-ordinated way. Specifically, we will:
	move towards more market determined exchange rate systems that reflect underlying economic fundamentals and refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies; andstrengthen multilateral co-operation to promote external sustainability and pursue the full range of policies conducive to reducing excessive imbalances and maintaining current account imbalances at sustainable levels.

Government Departments: Salaries

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated net saving in the pay bill of Her Majesty's Treasury for each of the next four years if no bonuses are paid and all salaries and increments are frozen.

Lord Sassoon: The pay freeze announced by the Chancellor in the June 2010 budget exempted the payment of non-consolidated performance awards from the freeze. Non- consolidated performance payments are an integral part of the reward package for all staff in the Treasury and its agencies and are a cost-effective method of driving high performance as they have to be re-earned each year and are non-pensionable.
	In the Treasury, payments in 2010-11 were made to the top 25 per cent of staff at both the Senior Civil Service level and to staff below the SCS, in respect of performance in 2009-10. These payments totalled £856,000. This amount would be saved if it was not paid in future years.
	I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave on 26 October (Official Report, col. WA 260) in respect of salaries and increments.

Government Departments: Salaries

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated net saving in the pay bill of the Department of Health for each of the next four years if no bonuses are paid and all salaries and increments are frozen.

Earl Howe: Following the spending review settlement for the department, detailed workforce plans and pay bill allocations, on which pay bill estimates would be based, are currently being developed and finalised. We are therefore currently unable to provide estimates of savings from the freezing of salaries and pay progression, for the years in question.
	For the current financial year, the department paid £1,639,680 in non-consolidated performance-related pay and £118,674 as in-year non-consolidated performance related pay up to and including October.
	From these figures a very simple estimate of savings for the next four years would be £7,373,000. This figure does not include employer's national insurance contribution, which would be in addition to that figure. A figure for the cost of that contribution would be available only at disproportionate cost. This simple estimate assumes constant staff numbers in the department which is contrary to current plans and so not likely to be the case.

Government Departments: Salaries

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated net saving in the pay bill of the Department for Work and Pensions for each of the next four years if no bonuses are paid and all salaries and increments are frozen.

Lord Freud: I refer the noble Lord to the two Written Ministerial Statements made by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud) 21 October 2010 (Official Report, col. WA 192) and 25 October 2010 (Official Report, col. WA233).

Government Office Network

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will assess the cost and benefits of using the Government Office Network in the regions to relocate central functions from London.

Baroness Hanham: The coalition's previous announcements on the closure of the Government Office Network made it clear that we were closing the government offices because we believe the previous Administration's regional government arrangements lacked democratic accountability, created burdens and bureaucracy for local councils and imposed arbitrary administrative boundaries over real communities.
	It is not yet clear whether wider reorganisations in departments will lead to relocation of central functions. Departments are currently setting out plans for reform in light of their spending review settlements.

Health: Incontinence

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether continence education and training is part of the national curriculum for pre-registration training for nurses; and, if not, why not.

Earl Howe: The department works closely with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the independent body with regulatory responsibility for nurse education standards.
	The NMC has recently reviewed the standards for pre-registration, nurse education to ensure that they are appropriate for the delivery of future health services and that they guarantee safe practice.
	The new standards focus specifically on continence training and the knowledge and skills associated with this are implicit within the required standards.

House of Lords: Residential Accommodation

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask the Chairman of Committees which posts within the House of Lords administration entitle the holder to accommodation; on what basis that accommodation is provided; and what is the address of the accommodation provided for each member of staff.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: At present, residential accommodation is provided to Black Rod and the Staff Superintendent, both of whom are required to spend some nights in proximity to the House. For security reasons, it is not possible to provide the addresses of these residences.

Housing

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of new social housing will be let at 80 per cent of the market rate.

Baroness Hanham: We will publish more detail on the new affordable rent scheme shortly.

Housing

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 14 October (WS 49), whether the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders are to be maintained.

Baroness Hanham: Housing market renewal pathfinders are constituted as local authority partnerships overseen by a board with an independent chair. Post 2010-11, it will be for local authorities to decide whether to continue with these partnerships and to bid for funding which would allow them to take forward market renewal projects in their areas.

Housing Benefit

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the number of households likely to be affected by the cap on housing benefit in Scotland, Wales and each of the English regions other than London; and how this figure has been reached.

Lord Freud: The department published a document on Impacts of Housing Benefit Proposals: Changes to the Local Housing Allowance to be introduced in 2011-12 on the 23 July, which includes analysis at the local authority level and the methodology used for its production. A copy of the document has been placed in the Library.

Housing Benefit

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the housing benefit cap on low income families.

Lord Freud: The department published a document on Impacts of Housing Benefit Proposals: Changes to the Local Housing Allowance to be introduced in 2011-12 on the 23 July, which includes analysis at the local authority level and the methodology used for its production. A copy of the document has been placed in the Library.
	Based on this analysis, we estimate that, out of around 1 million local housing allowance recipients, the housing benefit cap would affect 21,000 recipients, 7,000 of whom would be in employment.

Housing Benefit

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government which of the proposed changes to housing benefit rules will require primary legislation; which will require secondary legislation; and which can be achieved administratively.

Lord Freud: The proposed chances to housing benefit which will require primary legislation are as follows.
	From April 2013:
	up-rate local housing allowance rates in line with the consumer prices index rather than base them on local rental values;restrict housing benefit for working age social rented sector customers who are occupying a larger property than their household size and structure would warrant;reduce by 10 per cent housing benefit paid to customers who claim jobseeker's allowance for a period which exceeds 12 months; and reduce expenditure on council tax benefit by 10 per cent and localise it from 2013-14, giving councils a greater stake in getting people back to work and discretion to target benefits to local priorities, while protecting the most vulnerable.The following proposed changes will be achieved through secondary legislation.From April 2011:restrict local housing allowance levels to the 4 bedroom rate instead of the five bedroom rate;introduce caps for each property size to address excessively high rents to-£250 a week for a 1 bedroom property; £290 a week for a 2 bedroom property; £340 a week for a 3 bedroom property; and £400 a week for a 4 bedroom property or larger;remove the up to £15 weekly excess currently payable within the local housing allowance rules to customers whose rent is less than the local housing allowance rate; andinclude in the size criteria an additional bedroom for a non-resident carer where a disabled customer has an established need for overnight care.
	From April 2011 to April 2014 stage increases in the rates of non-dependant deductions from April 2011. By April 2014, these increases will bring the rates to the level they would have been had they been fully uprated since 2001 to reflect growth in rents and council tax.
	From October 2011 set local housing allowance rates at the 30th percentile of rents in each broad rental market area, rather than the median.
	From April 2012 increase the age threshold for the local housing allowance shared room rate from 25 years to 35 years.

Housing Benefit

Lord Bassam of Brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many residents in Brighton and Hove who have received jobseeker's allowance for 12 months or longer currently receive housing benefit; and what will be the cost (a) in total, and (b) on average for affected individuals, of the 10 per cent cut in benefits announced in Spending Review 2010.

Lord Freud: The information requested is not available.
	From February 2007, DWP has been collecting more detailed housing benefit and council tax benefit data electronically from local authorities. Over time this will improve the accuracy, timeliness and level of detail available in the published statistics, as the information supplied is quality assured.
	At present, the management information needed to estimate durations on housing benefit has not been sufficiently quality assured; and, while information is collected on the number of claimants in receipt of a passported benefit, which includes income-based jobseeker's allowance, the total number of jobseeker's allowance claimants receiving housing benefit is not available.
	Housing benefit caseload and average weekly amounts are available at local authority area level and these are published on the department's website at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbctb.asp.

Housing: Council Houses

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of council homes that are illegally occupied.

Baroness Hanham: Unlawful occupation of social housing deprives honest families of homes they need. We expect all social landlords to manage their stock actively and make sure homes are occupied by people who have the right to be there. The Government are reviewing the progress which landlords have made and considering what further steps are necessary to tackle this form of fraud.

Iraq

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will investigate the allegations of torture and killing of Iraqis in the light of recently leaked documents.

Lord Astor of Hever: Allegations that UK forces abused Iraqis are already being investigated by the service police and the Iraq Historic Allegations Team. We are still studying the Wikileaks documents, and if there are new allegations about UK forces, they will be investigated.

Local Improvement Finance Trusts

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of Local Improvement Finance Trusts in the development of new facilities in the National Health Service; and whether they have any plans for their involvement in the creation of more integrated health environments, moving beyond a bio-medical model of health.

Earl Howe: On the future of the Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) programme, I refer the noble Lord to the answer I provided him on 26 October, Official Report, col. 269.
	Since its launch in 2001, the LIFT programme has provided investment in the primary, community and social care infrastructure through a series of public private partnerships (involving the primary care trust and a private sector partner). In doing so, it provides modern, purpose-built facilities that, in many cases, co-locate services under the same roof. Across England, 49 LIFT companies have collectively provided 233 health, community and social care facilities with a capital value of more than £1.9 billion.
	A good example of this co-location is the Pendleton Gateway Centre (£14.9 million, opened February 2009) in Salford. It brings together a wide variety of health and local authority services. This centre acts as a community hub, located close to local shops and housing. The services provided include two general practitioner practices (seven GPs), a fracture clinic, ophthalmology, orthoptics, podiatry, audiology, dentistry, mental health teams and a pharmacy. It also includes a Salford City Council "one-stop shop" for council services, a cafe, a walk-in centre and a library. It has a special focus on children and young people's services, including children's and adolescents' mental health and paediatric services.

Monetary Policy Committee

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they rely on the Monetary Policy Committee to run an accommodative monetary strategy to counterbalance the impact of fiscal tightening.

Lord Sassoon: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) takes into account the path for fiscal policy in judging the outlook for growth and inflation and hence in its monetary policy decisions. During the period of fiscal consolidation, the MPC could provide additional stimulus should it judge that economic conditions warrant such a response in order for the inflation target to be met.

NHS: Oxygen Supplies

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the name of the single home oxygen supplier in each of the strategic health authority areas; and what is the cost to the National Health Service of supplies of oxygen and the delivery services of each supplier.

Earl Howe: For the Home Oxygen Service (HOS) there are currently three suppliers serving the 10 strategic health authorities of England. They are:
	Air Liquide (Homecare) Limited: South East Coast, South Central, South West and the North East:(note that currently the primary care trusts of South London are divided across the South East Coast and South Central regions);Air Products PLC: North London, East Midlands, West Midlands, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber; andBOC Limited: East of England.
	The cost to the National Health Service for HOS over the past 12 months ended September 2010, has been approximately £128 million (inc VAT).

NHS: Oxygen Supplies

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many patients were in receipt of NHS funded oxygen supplies at home in the latest period for which statistics are available.

Earl Howe: Patient numbers are reported on a monthly basis to each region and to the department. For the month of September 2010, the number of patients using the Home Oxygen Service was 92,810.

NHS: Oxygen Supplies

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the financial basis for the remuneration of suppliers of oxygen to individual NHS patients at home.

Earl Howe: The Home Oxygen Service (HOS) suppliers are remunerated on a per-diem basis. The per-diem cost is dependent on the flow rate of the oxygen and the hours prescribed per day.
	There are also a number of charge categories, which are fixed for each HOS supplier.

NHS: Oxygen Supplies

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government what competition exists in the awarding of contracts for the supply of oxygen to the National Health Service under the National Framework.

Earl Howe: We are currently involved in the reprocurement for the Home Oxygen Service. The principles for the reprocurement involve the department first appointing approved bidders to a new national framework. Once on the framework each region will then conduct a mini-competition involving those on the framework. At the mini-competition stage, the bidders will be asked to submit a price for the service. The prices at mini-competition for each region must be lower than or equal to the bidder's prices submitted at the framework stage.

NHS: Primary Care Trusts

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to ensure that restructuring primary care trusts will add real value for patients.

Earl Howe: Under the proposals set out in the White Paper Equity and Excellence we will shift decision-making as close as possible to individual patients. Power and responsibility for commissioning services will be devolved to local consortia of general practitioner (GP) practices which will be overseen nationally and held to account by an independent NHS Commissioning Board. Primary care trusts will be abolished. This change will build on the pivotal and trusted role that primary care professionals already play in co-ordinating patient care, through the system of registered patient lists.
	These new arrangements are intended to transform the quality of care and health outcomes for patients. Giving GP consortia more responsibility and control over commissioning budgets will align clinical decisions with their financial consequences. This is an essential component of a more effective commissioning structure.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what correspondence has taken place between the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission during October; and whether they will place this correspondence in the Library of the House.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: All ministerial and official letters between the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) during October will be placed in the Library of the House. These are:
	Letter dated 22 October 2010 from chief executive to NIO official; and letter dated 29 October 2010 from NIO to chief commissioner.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will start recruitment to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission; who will undertake the task; and on what basis.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland appoints the chief commissioner and other commissioners to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. Recruitment to replace the current commissioners, whose terms come to an end in autumn 2011, is expected to begin early in the new year. All appointments to the commission will be made on merit and will be run in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) guidelines. In making appointments, the Secretary of State will have regard to his statutory obligations under Section 68(3) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

Pensions

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) what are the employer contribution rates in the largest public sector pension schemes, (b) whether they have introduced or will introduce a policy of limiting the level such contributions can reach, and (c) what are the criteria governing public sector schemes enrolling employers in non-public sector companies or bodies as members.

Lord Sassoon: Employer contribution rates for the largest public service schemes in England and Wales, in order of size, are:
	
		
			 Scheme Employer contribution 
			 Local Government* c13.2% 
			 NHS 14.0% 
			 Teachers 14.1% 
			 Civil Service 18.9% 
			 Police (new scheme) 19.0% 
			 Police (old scheme) 25.5% 
			 Armed Forces 34.0% 
			 Firefighters (new scheme) 14.4% 
			 Firefighters (old scheme) 26.5% 
			 Judges 32.2% 
		
	
	Within the regulations of the Teachers, Civil Service, NHS and Local Government Pension Schemes there is already provision to limit the level of employer contributions, and the Government expect that Lord Hutton of Furness will consider such policies as part of his Independent Public Service Pensions Commission.
	The criteria governing public service pension schemes enrolling employers in non-public sector companies or bodies as members is set on a scheme by scheme basis and is not held centrally. Information on the criteria of individual public service pension schemes is available from the relevant government departments.
	* This rate represents the average charge for past and future service. The actual employer contribution is set locally and varies between each of 89 Local Authority Pension Funds in England and Wales.

Pensions

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the state pension system.

Lord Freud: We recognise that the existing pension system is complex and difficult for many to understand. We are looking to publish proposals for reform in due course.

Pensions

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to safeguard the pensions of former employees of financial institutions if the institution is sold to a body based outside the United Kingdom.

Lord Freud: The Pensions Regulator, set up under the Pensions Act 2004, is the body responsible for the regulation of work-based pension schemes in the UK. The regulator's main statutory objectives include the protection of the benefits of members of work-based pension schemes administered in the UK and it has a number of powers to meet this objective.
	As I said in my reply of 27 September 2010 (col. WA399), where, as a result of the state of the employer, the pension scheme becomes based outside the UK, a number of regulatory provisions could apply. For example, the Pensions Regulator has certain powers to take action where such a move causes material detriment to the likelihood of members of a defined benefit scheme receiving their benefits. Pension schemes based in a country outside the UK will be subject to the legislation and regulatory arrangements in that country.

People Trafficking

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that multi-agency child safeguarding teams operate at main United Kingdom ports to identify and respond to concerns about children and young people arriving in or leaving the United Kingdom.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The Government are committed to safeguarding children. Multi-agency arrangements for child safeguarding operate at all ports and UK border force staff receive training on how to identify safeguarding concerns, how to respond to such situations and how to refer their concerns to the statutory agencies that have a child protection or child welfare role.

People Trafficking

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government which local authorities provide an independent reviewer in all cases where it is suspected or alleged that a child has been trafficked.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Potentially trafficked children are likely to present to local authorities as unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). They will be supported as looked-after children by local authorities, who are responsible for assessing their needs and supporting them. Each child will be allocated a social worker, who will draw up a care plan designed to meet their individual needs and which will be regularly reviewed. This will include an assessment of whether the child is likely to have been trafficked and an appropriate plan to minimise the risk of them going missing from care or engaging with traffickers. All looked-after children are allocated an Independent Reviewing Officer, whose role is to ensure that the child's views have been taken into account in the care plan and at review meetings.

People Trafficking

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that unaccompanied children who have been trafficked into the United Kingdom are given support during any court proceedings by a legal guardian or other representative.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Any child subject to care proceedings in a court is entitled to have a guardian and legal representation. However, unaccompanied children who are suspected of having been trafficked into the United Kingdom would not normally be involved in court proceedings. They would be accommodated as looked after children under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 as they would have entered the country without an adult to take parental responsibility for them.

Policing and Crime

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many police and crime commissioners there will be; and what areas will they represent.

Baroness Neville-Jones: As outlined in the Policing in the 21st Century consultation document, there will be 41 police and crime commissioners.
	A single commissioner will be directly elected at the level of each force in England and Wales with the exception of the Metropolitan Police, where the Mayor of London will fulfil this role, and the City of London Police.

Policing and Crime

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty's Government who will be eligible to elect police and crime commissioners; and when and how elections will be held.

Baroness Neville-Jones: Proposals were set out in the consultation document, Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting Police and the People, and further details will be set out in the police reform and social responsibility Bill when introduced into Parliament later this year.

Policing and Crime

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether police and crime commissioners will be paid; and what is the estimated overall cost of the posts.

Baroness Neville-Jones: As outlined in the Policing in the 21st Century consultation document, police and crime commissioners will be paid. Proposals around pay will reflect our focus on value for money and transparency.
	The Government's consultation on these proposals closed on 20 September and a response, including estimated costs of the policy, will be published shortly.

Poverty

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they plan to reduce "out of work" and "in work" poverty among multiple birth families.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The Government believe that the best way to tackle this issue is to address the root causes of poverty, because it is only by doing this that we can improve outcomes for children in the most effective way.
	By spring next year we will consult on and publish a robust, sustainable strategy to end child poverty by 2020 as required by the Child Poverty Act. As part of that, we will be looking closely at those groups most at risk of poverty, including large families, and will consider multiple-birth families as part of that.

Poverty

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of childcare provision for mothers of multiple birth children who wish to return to work after maternity leave.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Local authorities have a duty to assess childcare provision and to secure sufficient childcare for working parents in their area, which includes mothers of multiple-birth children. Local authorities are due to publish their next sufficiency assessments by the end of March 2011.

Prisoners: Ethnic Minorities

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the disproportionate number of black and minority ethnic people affected by stop and search powers and in prisons and mental health institutions.

Baroness Neville-Jones: I refer the noble Lord to the Answer given on 12 July 2010 (Official Report, col. WA 109), about the action being taken to address disproportionality in the use of stop and search powers.
	Since that reply, the National Policing Improvement Agency has begun the phased roll-out of Next Steps, a diagnostic tool to help forces to ensure that stop and search is used appropriately and effectively while exposing inappropriate, ineffective usage that is having a detrimental impact on community confidence.
	On disproportionality in prisons and mental health institutions, I refer the noble Lord to the reply given to him by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health, on 27 September 2010 (Official Report, col. WA563).

Private Sector: Higher Education Funding

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to allow private sector companies to access Higher Education Funding Council for England funding for the delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Baroness Wilcox: All universities are independent of the Government and are not part of the public sector. The Government want to make it easier for new providers who can offer excellent teaching and a high-quality experience for students to enter the higher education sector. Reviewing the ability of currently non-publicly funded providers to access Higher Education Funding Council for England funding is one of a number of institutional issues in the wake of Lord Browne's independent review of higher education and student finance which requires thorough debate and consultation. We intend therefore to publish a higher education White Paper with proposals to which experts from the sector can react, leading, subject to parliamentary time, to a higher education Bill.

Regional Development

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have a strategy for regional development.

Baroness Wilcox: The White Paper on local growth sets out the Government's approach to local economic development.

Research Councils

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government how research councils will be protected by HM Treasury from currency fluctuations affecting international subscriptions and obligations.

Lord Sassoon: Research councils are responsible for managing their foreign exchange risks along with the other financial risks they routinely manage.
	In the 2010 spending review, the budget allocations from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will cover agreed levels of international subscriptions at the prevailing exchange rates and research councils will use forward contracts to minimise these foreign exchange risks.

Retail Price Index

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the retail prices index is to be used to set allowable rail ticket price rises whilst increases in pensions and benefits are limited to the consumer prices index.

Lord Sassoon: Different inflation measures are appropriate for different purposes. In the case of benefits, pensions and tax credits, the objective of indexation policy is to maintain individuals' purchasing power in respect of the payment in question. As explained in paragraph 1.106 of the June Budget, Her Majesty's Government have decided that the consumer prices index (CPI) provides a more appropriate measure for this purpose. However, the use of CPI as an inflation measure for these policies is separate from inflation measures applied in relation to industry rail fares.
	The use of the retail prices index (RPI) for setting the cap on regulated rail fares is consistent with the general indexation approach adopted across the rail industry. Franchise payments, franchise financial models and network grant are all indexed at RPI. Similarly, the Office of Rail Regulation uses RPI as the index for Network Rail's revenues; namely, track access charges. It is also worth noting that RPI is the basis of price regulation for other networks; for instance, Ofgem uses RPI as the basis for regulating energy markets as does OFWAT in water rate regulation.

Schools: Academies

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many schools in England (a) applied for details of transfer to academy status by the end of September, and (b) formally lodged applications to become academies; and how many new academies are now in operation.

Lord Hill of Oareford: At the end of September 2010, 2042 schools had registered their interest for details of transfer to academy status. By the same date, 186 schools had submitted applications to convert to academies.
	Currently, 80 schools have converted to academy status under the terms of the Academies Act 2010 and are now in operation as academies.

Schools: Attainment Gap

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to close the attainment gap between public and private school pupils.

Lord Hill of Oareford: We are committed to improving the attainment of pupils in the public sector. We will do this by getting the basics right through promoting the use of systematic synthetic phonics in primary schools and ensuring that pupils are fluent in basic mathematics by the time they move to secondary school. We intend to raise the quality of the teaching profession and reduce bureaucracy in schools so that teachers and heads can focus on teaching and raising standards. We will develop a knowledge-based curriculum, with sharper assessment processes.
	We are also committed to the expansion of the academies programme, opening it up to all schools including for the first time primary and special schools. This will allow schools to have greater autonomy with additional freedoms that allow them to innovate and personalise the education of their pupils. Academies have a track record of improving attainment with the proportion of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs at A*-C including English and maths improving faster than the national average.
	The forthcoming schools White Paper will set out our plans to raise educational standards to the levels of the best performing countries. It will be published later in the year.

Schools: Educational Psychologists

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the arrangements and funds available for the support of educational psychologist training from 2011.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Educational psychologists are local authority employees, and it is for the local authority employers to ensure that the training arrangements secure a sufficient number of trained educational psychologists to match predicted work demands and vacancies in educational psychology services.
	In the past, local authorities have been expected to contribute to the voluntary subscription scheme set up by the Children's Workforce Development Council to help manage the entry training of EPs but an increasing number of LAs are deciding not to participate fully in the scheme.
	We are therefore considering how initial training for educational psychologists can be sustainably managed and funded within the context of the forthcoming Green Paper on Special Educational Needs and the Government Spending Review.

Schools: Educational Psychologists

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ensure that funding is available to train and sustain the current number of educational psychologists.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The training and deployment of educational psychologists is the responsibility of local authorities, which are expected to contribute to the voluntary subscription scheme set up by the Children's Workforce Development Council to help manage the entry training of EPs. However, many have chosen not to contribute to the voluntary scheme. We are therefore considering how initial training for educational psychologists can be sustainably managed and funded. The forthcoming Special Educational Needs Green Paper provides the opportunity to consider this in the broader context of improving the SEN system, including early identification and assessment.

Schools: Educational Psychologists

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they will give to local authorities on the provision and availability of educational psychologists for children for whom they are responsible, their families, and children's service professionals in order to provide diagnostic support, advice and assessment.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Educational psychologists make an extremely important contribution to services for children and families. However, individual local authorities are responsible for determining, in the light of their assessment of needs and their own circumstances, how they configure their educational psychology services, the number of EPs required and their input in terms of training and their deployment to support the children and young people in their area.
	The forthcoming Special Educational Needs Green Paper, which aims to improve the SEN system, should provide an opportunity to identify and strengthen the way local authorities manage early identification and assessment. In addition, the Children's Workforce Development Council has developed a workforce planning model which should inform the way local authorities manage any capacity issues.

Schools: Inspection

Lord Bowness: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the financial year 2009-10, how many school inspections were carried out by (a) HM Inspectors directly employed by Ofsted, and (b) freelance staff and contractors; and what was the average cost of each inspection in each category.

Lord Hill of Oareford: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, will write to the noble Lord and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Schools: Male Teachers

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the percentages of male teachers in (a) state primary schools, and (b) state secondary schools.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The information requested is published in table D4 within the Statistical First Release, "School Workforce in England (including pupil:teacher ratios and pupil: adult ratios), January 2010 (provisional)", published on 26 May 2010. It is available at the following web link at http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000927/sfr11-2010tis.xls.
	The table covers local authority maintained schools and excludes city technology colleges and academies.

Schools: Pupil Premium

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the pupil premium will transfer from a school to a further education college if a pupil embarks on a 14 to 16 full-time course of study.

Lord Sassoon: On 26 July the Secretary of State for Education and the Minister for Children and Families launched a consultation on school funding for 2011-12. This consultation covered the methodology and operation of the pupil premium, including the precise distribution to pupils.
	The consultation closed on 18 October and the Department for Education will consider the responses carefully in making final decisions. A statement of the outcome will be made shortly.

Spending Review 2010

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many pupils, and what proportion of the relevant age group, in (a) Newcastle-upon-Tyne, (b) other north-eastern local authorities, and (c) England, are in receipt of education maintenance allowance; and what effect the changes announced in Spending Review 2010 will have on those numbers.

Lord Hill of Oareford: Information on the number of students and proportion of the relevant age groups in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, other north-eastern local authorities and England, in receipt of education maintenance allowance is shown below.
	
		
			  Nos. in receipt of EMA as at 30 September 2010 16-18 Population estimate for 2010-11 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 2,267 10,119 
			 Other north-eastern local authorities 25,035 88,175 
			 England 384,432 1,947,710 
		
	
	No young people will receive education maintenance allowances after the end of the 2010-11 academic year. It will be replaced by an enhanced learner support fund. Decisions about the use of this fund will be made locally.

Spending Review 2010

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact which the reduction in police budgets over the period of spending review 2010 will have on the provision of specialist services to investigate rape offences.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact which the reduction in police budgets over the period of Spending Review 2010 will have on the provision of sexual assault referral centres.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The Government have made it clear since coming to office that the victim in rape cases is their priority and have committed to publishing a full response to Baroness Stern's independent review into how rape complaints are handled by public authorities in England and Wales in 2011.
	In addition, the ACPO rape support programme, funded by the Home Office, is undertaking an evaluation of dedicated sexual offences units as per Baroness Stern's recommendation. This will help forces to understand the advantages of such specialised units and will support them in considering how best to use the resources at their disposal to ensure the best outcome. Chief constables and police authorities have maximum flexibility to make best possible use of resources and ensure they have the right workforce balance they need to deliver local priorities.
	In addition, we have so far provided £2.2 million of funding to aid the development of sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) in England and Wales this year, and the provision of SARC services will also be a key theme in the response to Baroness Stern.
	SARCs are not the sole responsibility of the police, but should embody a partnership approach at a local level, particularly with the NHS which will already bear the cost of providing many of the services that SARCs offer. We will continue our work with the Department of Health to consider how we best support local areas in developing SARCs going forward.

Spending Review 2010

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Lord Sassoon on 20 October (Official Report, col. 831), what rate of interest they assumed when they said debt interest payments would be £63 billion in 2014-15.

Lord Sassoon: Debt interest is forecast to be £63 billion in 2014-15 in the Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) June Budget forecast. The determinants of the OBR's fiscal forecast, including market gilt rates, are published in Table C5 of the June Budget 2010 (page 87).

Taxation: Avoidance

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 18 October (WA 131), when they expect to report the outcome of their review into the case for developing a general anti-tax avoidance rule for the United Kingdom.

Lord Sassoon: HM Revenue and Customs has been engaging informally with interested parties over the summer. The Government will report on the outcome at the appropriate time.

Taxation: Avoidance

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 18 October (WA 131), whether action taken to challenge tax avoidance schemes includes the review of inheritance tax trusts.

Lord Sassoon: HM Revenue and Customs has consulted on draft legislation to extend the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes regime to include avoidance schemes relating to inheritance tax as it applies to the transfer of property into trusts. The consultation closed on 20 October and the responses are currently being considered.

Terrorism

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether deaths of terrorists are included in the calculation of victims of terrorism in Great Britain.

Baroness Neville-Jones: The Home Office does not hold statistics on victims of terrorism as such but within the homicide statistics there is a breakdown by apparent circumstances and relationship of victim to principal suspect, for which one of the categories is attributed to acts of terrorism. This therefore gives a figure for victims of homicide due to terrorism. In recording homicides, perpetrators of terrorist acts who cause their own deaths are not counted as victims.

Vehicles: Clamping

Lord Soley: To ask Her Majesty's Government in what circumstances a car clamping company may place a clamp on cars parked in an unadopted road.

Baroness Neville-Jones: A landowner or tenant may use any legal means to control or prevent parking on their land, including vehicle immobilisation. Individuals who carry out vehicle immobilisation, elsewhere than on a road within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act 1988, with a view to demanding a release fee, or who employ or manage them, must hold a personal licence issued by the Security Industry Authority. Conditions are attached to the licence including a prohibition on clamping if a valid disabled badge is displayed on the vehicle, or if it is an emergency service vehicle which is in use as such.

Winter Fuel Payments

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many winter fuel payments were made in each of the last five years to residents of Monaco aged (a) between 60 and 80, and (b) over 80.

Lord Freud: Winter fuel payments are paid to former UK residents living in the European Economic Area and Switzerland if they qualified for a payment before leaving the UK.
	Monaco does not fall within the European economic area and therefore people living there are not eligible for a winter fuel payment.